Geneviève Bujold Movies
With her warm, intelligent performances and piercing almond eyes, the French-Canadian actress Genevieve Bujold cut a striking figure throughout the international film community during the 1960s and beyond. Born July 1, 1942, in Montréal, Quebec, Bujold studied acting at the Montréal Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique but exited prior to graduation in order to join a touring company's production of The Barber of Seville. She subsequently enlisted with another performing company, Rideau Vert, and also began appearing on television. Her film debut was in 1962's Amanita Pestilens, followed in 1964 by La Fleur de l'Age. In 1965, the Rideau Vert troupe traveled to Moscow and Paris, where Bujold came to the attention of filmmaker Alain Resnais. He cast her in 1966's La Guerre est Finie, where her turn as a pro-Spanish activist earned international attention. She remained in France to star in Philippe de Broca's cult hit Le Roi de Coeur, then appeared opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo in Louis Malle's 1967 effort Le Voleur. Upon returning to Canada, Bujold appeared in 1967's Entre la Mer et L'eau Douce. The following year, she starred in Isabel, winning Best Actress honors at the Toronto Film Festival as well as marrying the picture's director, Paul Almond.Bujold then traveled to Britain to star as Anne Boleyn in Anne of the Thousand Days, a performance which won her an Academy Award nomination and made her a star. A three-picture deal with Universal followed, but she first detoured back to Canada to star in Almond's 1970 film Act of the Heart. Universal then cast her as the titular Mary Queen of Scots, but, fearing typecasting, Bujold refused the role, resulting in a lawsuit from the studio. Instead of paying damages, she returned to Europe to co-star in The Trojan Women, which failed to measure up to box-office expectations. Almond's Journey and Claud Jutra's 1973 feature Kamouraska further derailed her career, and after appearing opposite Alec Guinness in Caesar and Anthony for British television she journeyed to Hollywood, where as part of her Universal pact the studio pointed her to 1974's disaster epic Earthquake. After again starring with Belmondo in de Broca's L'Incorrigible, Bujold made 1976's Swashbuckler to appease Universal. Brian DePalma's Vertigo homage Obsession resuscitated her career, although the follow-up, John Korty's Alex and the Gypsy, was a disappointment.
In 1978, Bujold starred in Michael Crichton's Coma, one of her biggest hits to date. After starring alongside Clint Eastwood in 1984's Tightrope, Bujold teamed with director Alan Rudolph on the superb romantic comedy Choose Me. In Rudolph, she found a director unusually sympathetic to her style of performing, and she subsequently appeared under him in 1985's Trouble in Mind and 1988's The Moderns, delivering some of her strongest work to date. David Cronenberg's stunning Dead Ringers followed, but the 1990s proved a disappointment as Bujold appeared in a series of lackluster Canadian productions which rarely appeared anywhere outside of their land of origin. She also made headlines for exiting a starring role in the TV series Star Trek: Voyager just prior to production. In 1997, after a long absence, Bujold finally returned to American cinema in the independent hit The House of Yes. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A man neglects his wife and daughter in favor of his passion for gardening in this quirky drama from director Rene Bonniere. He is appalled to find a poisonous mushroom one day on his well-manicured lawn, and in spite of his considerable efforts, his lawn is soon filled with the deadly fungi. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold
- 1964
Filmed in French, the Canadian Adolescents consists of three short tales of the trials and tribulations of teenhood. In "Fiametta", Micaela Esdra moons over her deceased father, whose omniprescent memory squelches her mother's latest romance. "Genevieve" features Genevieve Bujold and Louise Marleau as close friends who drift apart after handsome Bernard Arcand honors Bujold with a kiss. And in "Marie-France and Veronica", Veronice Duval and Nadine Ballot simultaneously experience a sexual awakening while visiting Paris. Though three directors worked on The Adolescents, the film maintains a consistency of mood and quality throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
La Guerre est Finie represents one of the few "linear" films of French director Alain Resnais. Instead of indulging in his beloved flashbacks and flashforwards, Resnais sticks to a logical progression of events in relating this jaundiced tale of political activism. Yves Montand plays a tired, ageing revolutionary whose current target is Spain's Franco regime. Having become a familiar face to the authorities, Montand is no longer of any value as an undercover operative, yet he insists on leading a strike in Madrid. He is stopped from doing so by his fellow revolutionaries, who feel that Montand has become out of synch with the Movement. When Montand is finally able to complete his mission, everything goes wrong. Among the hero's "fellow" activists are Genevieve Bujold and Ingrid Thulin, both of whom harbor a romantic interest in Montand. The casual viewer might be surprised at the lack of action in the film, but favoring suspense over action is typical of Alain Resnais. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, (more)
The French/Italian/British King of Hearts (Le Roi de Coeur) takes place during World War I, but it might as well have been the Vietnamese conflict so far as its youthful "core" audience was concerned. Overacting outrageously, Adolfo Celi plays British colonel Alexander MacBibenbrook, who orders mild-mannered Scotsman Pvt. Charles Plumpick (Alan Bates) to undertake a life-or-death mission in a tiny French village. While evacuating the town, the Germans have left behind a time bomb that will explode at midnight; Plumpick must defuse that bomb. Upon his arrival in town, Plumpick discovers that it is far from deserted. A group of inmates from the local insane asylum, left behind during the evacuation, have claimed the village for their own. Knocked unconscious, Plumpick awakens to learn that he has been crowned "King of Hearts" by the gentle lunatics. None of the inmates pay any heed to Plumpick's warnings about impending doom, and when he attempts to lead them out of town, they are terrified at the prospect and scurry back to the "safety" of the village. Plumpick is finally able to render the bomb useless, whereupon the grateful inmates decide to stage a three-year celebration. When Plumpick tries to leave, he is kidnapped by the loonies at the behest of beautiful inmate Coquelicot (Geneviève Bujold), who has fallen in love with him. Bound and gagged, Plumpick watches helplessly as the Germans and the British troops kill each other off in comic-opera fashion. Finally set free, Plumpick weighs the horrible insanity of war against the more benign brand of lunacy represented by the inmates. The final image -- of a nude Plumpick carrying a birdcage, knocking on the doors of the asylum, and demanding that he be "accepted" -- was reproduced for the print ads of King of Hearts, effectively giving away the ending. An essential "date" film of the 1970s, King of Hearts was often released to campus movie houses in tandem with a pair of cult-favorite short subjects, the animated Bambi Meets Godzilla and Lenny Bruce's Thank You Masked Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Bates, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1967
Louis Malle directed this light comedy about crime and class in the City of Light. Georges Randal (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a young man living in Paris at the turn of the century who is due to inherit a considerable fortune. However, his uncle, who is acting as his guardian, manages to spend Georges' money before he ever gets a chance to see it. Georges is also deeply in love with Charlotte (Geneviève Bujold), his cousin, and wants to marry her; however, the same uncle has promised her hand to another, a man Charlotte does not love. Understandably angry, Georges makes plans to steal the family's jewelry, intended for Charlotte, away from his dishonest uncle. Georges soon discovers that he enjoys being a thief, and begins robbing the wealthy as protest against the bourgeoisie. However, as Georges' ill-gotten nest egg grows, he finds himself becoming a member of the idle rich he professes to despise. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1967
A young man (Claude Gauthier) sets out from his hometown of Quebec and travels to Montreal to seek his fortune. He takes a succession of odd jobs before hitting it big as a singer. He has eyes for a waitress (Genevieve Bujold) in a greasy spoon diner before his crooning career takes him to hang out in more upscale restaurants. The young man falls for another girl who leaves him, and he is just as lonely as he was in his small town in Quebec before he found success. All the money in the world won't bring back his girl in this independent feature with the backdrop of burgeoning speeches of Quebec declaring independence from the rest of Canada. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Claude Gauthier, (more)
- 1968
Written and directed by Paul Almont, Isabel takes place in a Canadian coastal village. Genevieve Bujold, who must hold the patent for Enigmatic Young Women, plays a girl whose flawlessly beautiful face masks the maelstrom swirling in her mind. Isabel is haunted by the images of her family members, each of whom suffered a violent death. Believing herself the product of an incestuous relationship, Isabel enters into an affair with a young man who resembles her own brother. Marc Strange, who plays Bujold's paramour, also wrote the songs heard on the soundtrack of Isabel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marc Strange, Gerard Parkes, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Anne of the Thousand Days is the belated film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1948 stage play. The story concentrates on the romance between Britain's King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) and his ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold). After holding out for marriage rather than an illegitimate union, Anne marries Henry after he sheds himself of Katherine of Aragon -- causing a rift between the Crown and the Church in the process. Anne's inability to produce a male heir leads Henry to look about for other suitable mates. Henry's sinister right-hand man Cromwell (John Colicos) arranges for Anne to be condemned on a charge of adultery. She is beheaded, while Henry disconsolately sits in Windsor Castle, regretting this callous example of political expediency. Richard Burton is ideally cast in Anne of the Thousand Days, but it is Genevieve Bujold who delivers the best, most complex performance in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1970
A woman is led to the edge of madness as she wrestles between her spiritual life and her romantic longings in this unusual drama. Martha Hayes (Genevieve Bujold) is a young woman who was raised in a small rural community. A deeply committed Christian, Hayes moves to Montreal, where she earns a meager wage working with the choir at an Anglican Church. Hayes has also been asked to look after a child with health problems, and when the child unexpectedly dies, she falls into a deep depression. While in conference with Father Michael Ferrier (Donald Sutherland), a priest who has come to her church as part of a interfaith music festival, Hayes breaks down and confesses her love for him. Ferrier responds by leaving the church to marry her; however, Ferrier is not well suited for life in the secular world, and their marriage soon collapses, leading Hayes to desperate measures. Genevieve Bujold's performance in Act Of The Heart earned her the Best Actress award at the 1970 Canadian Film Awards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Donald Sutherland, (more)
The Trojan Women is a film of the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, which is a highly mannered, ritual-like stage play. It was not easy to transform it into a movie while remaining faithful to the play, but there are many rewards for the patient viewer. The score by Mikis Theodorakis (Zorba the Greek) fits the story beautifully, and the film's re-creation of the ancient Mediterranean is memorable. Finally, the original play, despite its great age, has what are still considered among the finest roles ever written for women. The story concerns the trials and tribulations of the women of Troy at the time of Greek conquest and the truth and chilling power of the curses they hurl at their captors, who have slain every male of their nation, including the infants. Particularly notable is the performance of Irene Papas as Helen, a woman of infinite guile, whose abduction by Paris led to the whole debacle in the first place. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Katharine Hepburn, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1971
This documentary about the life and career of Clint Eastwood includes exclusive footage and interviews with a number of his colleagues and co-stars, including Geneviève Bujold, Frances Fisher, Gene Hackman, and Marsha Mason. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Genevieve Bujold stars as a girl who is rescued from the brink of drowning by a Quebecois pioneer (John Vernon); after settling in his community, she brings bad luck to all those who cross her path. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
Adapted by French playwright Jean Anouilh from the Sophocles original, Antigone was originally produced onstage in 1942, while France was under German occupation, and the production is set in modern times. As the film begins, we discover that after the death of Oedipus, king of Thebes, his sons Polynices and Eteocles had agreed to share the responsibility of ruling Thebes. Unfortunately, this situation did not work out, resulting in a war that left both brothers dead and the throne being grabbed by their uncle, Creon (played by Fritz Weaver). Creon has buried Eteocles but has refused a burial for Polynices, ordering that his body be left as carrion for the birds; he further issues an order that anyone burying Polynices will be put to death. Antigone (Genevieve Bujold), sister of the two dead brothers, defies this order, and is brought before Creon. The bulk of the film consist of a long confrontation between the uncle and his niece, during which Creon tries to find why Antigone willingly and knowingly disobeyed him, and revealing that her brothers has unbeknownst to her spent years trying to kill her beloved father. Although stunned by these revelations, Antigone does not renounce her actions and is led to her death, though she no longer knows what she is dying for. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Elizabeth (Genvieve Bujold) lives in a small French-speaking village in early 19th-century Canada. She was widowed once, thanks to the kind offices of an American royalist doctor. Her first husband's death was arranged by Elizabeth and the doctor, but after a crisis of conscience, the doctor returns to America without marrying her. Her story is told in flashbacks as she sits at the deathbed of her current, second husband. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Richard Jordan, (more)
Los Angeles is the natural site for a film about earthquakes: they happen there frequently, and the landscape is familiar to moviegoers from thousands of films. A huge number of ongoing vignettes which include cameos from numerous celebrities and stars are tied together by the ongoing efforts of architect Graff (Charleton Heston) to rescue his estranged spoiled-rich-girl wife (Ava Gardner), while helping out with the ongoing rescue efforts taking place around him and while trying to determine what has happened to his mistress Denise (Genvieve Bujold). The rumbling sound effect designed for this film (Sensurround) won a "Best Sound" Oscar for the film in 1975. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, (more)
- 1975
Right after his release from prison, Victor (Jean-Paul Belmondo) resumes his con-man activities. He rents apartments he doesn't own, sells nonexistent fighter planes to African countries, and by turns pretends to be a gardener, lawyer, private detective, governmental official, and even a transvestite in order to fool his unsuspecting victims. He does it all under the nose of his charming but naive parole officer Marie-Charlotte (Genevieve Bujold). When Victor finds out that Marie-Charlotte's father curates the museum that has an extremely valuable painting, he and his friends decide to steal it. ~ Yuri German, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
A latter-day attempt to update the swordplay success of Errol Flynn movies, this film is part burlesque, part homage to old-fashioned pirate films. James Earl Jones and Robert Shaw play Nick Debrett and Ned Lynch, two pirates who save a noblewoman, Jane Barnet (Geneviève Bujold), and take her to Jamaica. They find that their friends have been taken captive by a ruthless dictator -- Peter Boyle plays the foppish villain Lord Durant with an over-the-top swagger. Debrett and Lynch set out to rescue their friends and overthrow the perverted tyrant. Beau Bridges plays Major Folly, a fancy-dressing Scarlet Pimpernel sort. A young Anjelica Huston has a minor part as a nameless woman. There is plenty of swordplay, blood, slapstick, and cleavage, all directed by James Goldstone in a frenzied fashion. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, James Earl Jones, (more)
- 1976
- PG
- Add Obsession to Queue
Love never dies in Brian De Palma's psychological thriller, though money certainly complicates matters. Rich New Orleans real estate developer Michael Courtland (Cliff Robertson) lost his beloved wife Elizabeth (Genevieve Bujold) and their daughter during a botched kidnap rescue, after he chose to let the police try to free them instead of paying the ransom. Sixteen years later, Michael returns to the Tuscan church where he and Elizabeth first met, and he sees Sandra Portinari (Bujold again), the mirror image of his dead wife. Despite the reservations of his long-time friend and business partner (John Lithgow), Michael woos Sandra and brings her back to New Orleans to marry her. Seeing Sandra as his second chance to prove his love, Michael thinks he can finally put the past behind him, but the past is about to catch up with him in ways he never dreamed. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1976
- PG
Alexander Main (Jack Lemmon) is a tired, middle-aged bail bondsman who hears from his former girlfriend Maritza (Genevieve Bujold) for the first time in quite a while. The news isn't good: Maritza is accused of the attempted murder of her abusive lover, and she hopes that Alex can get her out of jail. Alex arranges to have Maritza released into his custody, but while their romance begins to blossom once again, their relationship is still doomed to failure. This downbeat romantic comedy was based on the novel The Bailbondsman by Stanley Elkin. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Lemmon, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
- 1977
Claude Lelouch's Another Man, Another Chance is set in 1870. Fleeing from the Franco-Prussian war, Jeanne (Genevieve Bujold) and boyfriend Francis (Francis Huster) escape to the American west. Their course does not run smooth, and soon Jeanne is left alone to care for her baby. Meanwhile, American veterinaran Jimmy (James Caan), an absolute stranger to Bujold, endures his share of woes, not least of which is the rape and murder of his wife by desperadoes. Inevitably, Caan and Bujold meet and fall in love. Having already suffered the death of Huster, Jeanne tries to dissuade Jimmy from his single-minded pursuit of his wife's murderers. This character conflict determines the outcome of the film's final scenes. Another Man, Another Chance was distributed in the US by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Caan, Geneviève Bujold, (more)
A feisty, feminist intern uncovers a medical conspiracy in this icy thriller about mysterious goings-on at Boston Memorial Hospital. When her best friend and aerobics partner, Nancy Greenly (Lois Chiles), emerges in a vegetative state from a routine abortion, Dr. Susan Wheeler (Genevieve Bujold) does some digging and discovers an overabundance of anesthesia-induced comas among otherwise healthy young patients. The male authority figures who challenge Susan's technically illegal tampering with medical records include her boss, Dr. Harris (Richard Widmark); the chief anesthesiologist, Dr. George (Rip Torn); and even her boyfriend, Dr. Mark Bellows (Michael Douglas), who doesn't want Susan's shenanigans to get in the way of his shot at chief resident. As Susan continues her crusade, the paper trail leads to the Jefferson Institute, a mysterious, experimental facility in which vegetative patients are stored en masse, suspended from the ceiling by wires threaded through their long bones, in order to reduce the cost of long-term care. A shadowy assailant begins to stalk Susan just as she uncovers the link between the Jefferson Institute and the comas at Boston Memorial, setting the stage for climactic suspense scenes involving morgues, malpractice and endless institutional corridors. Writer/director Michael Crichton adapted his second feature film from Robin Cook's bestseller of the same name. Tom Selleck, who would star in Crichton's Runaway several years later, appears briefly in Coma as another victim of lethal anesthesia. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, (more)
The murders by the infamous British criminal, Jack the Ripper, catch the attention of Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer), but he does not receive the expected call from Scotland Yard because he is being purposefully excluded from the investigation. Instead, Robert Lees (Donald Sutherland), a psychic who volunteered information to the police about the murders, provides the Great Detective with the necessary incitement to action. As the murders proceed, it becomes clear to all concerned that it is more important to stop them than to announce their solution, and Holmes enters the fray with the help of his trusty aide, Dr. Watson (James Mason). The former mistress of a "prominent personage," Annie Crook (Genevieve Bujold), provides crucial information leading to a final confrontation on London's docks. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Plummer, James Mason, (more)
In this complex spy caper, Nicole (Genevieve Bujold) is a Canadian broadcast journalist working on assignment in the former U.S.S.R. She is there to cover a visit by the Canadian prime minister, but along the way she discovers an unethical experimentation on children involving the use of steroids. She is also involved in smuggling out a girl for emergency brain surgery and develops a romantic liaison with Lyosha (Michael York), a bureaucrat in the Soviet press corps. A Jewish businessman she knows just happens to be in Russia, and she asks him to help her in the smuggling attempt. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geneviève Bujold, Michael York, (more)
